This invention relates to the art of stretching and holding fabric while a design is hand painted onto the fabric, and more particularly to an apparatus which does not damage the fabric and may be used with hemmed fabrics.
Various methods are available to produce a piece of decorated fabric which may be used to manufacture an apparel item such as a scarf. Typically the fabric material is manufactured in long bolts and the decoration applied during the manufacturing process. In such cases the material will be cut and hemmed in order to produce the final product. Another method involves the hand painting of the decoration onto a finished piece of uniformly colored material using dyes or fabric paint. This method has been popular for many years in Europe and the Orient but has only recently been introduced in any large measure in the U.S. In order to successfully paint onto the fabric, the fabric must be held taut during the painting process. Typically, this has been achieved by anchoring two of the ends of the fabric in a stretching frame which is then tensioned. Various anchoring methods have been utilized.
One method involved holding the fabric between opposing flat surfaces which are compressed together. However, great compressive force must be applied in order to keep the ends from slipping out when the frame is tensioned. Other anchoring approaches involve hooking or latching the ends of the fabric with devices such as nails which penetrate the fabric and leave holes when removed. With such devices the artist risks injury from the protruding hooks and nails. Combinations of the above two approaches are also known.
In all the prior art devices, the methods of anchoring the fabric cause damage to the fabric. Thus, it has been necessary to cut off the damages anchored ends before hemming.
In addition, the prior art frames are generally constructed from wood. These wood frames typically twist and sway when lifted upright onto an easel for convenience in painting unless constructed of very heavy wood. In such a case the weight of the wood frame becomes prohibitive. Wood frames for larger pieces of fabric are also extremely heavy and practically limit the size of fabric which can be conveniently stretched.
Another disadvantage of the prior art wood frames is that the wood anchoring members absorb the dyes. Ultimately, the absorbed dyes transfer to undyed material placed on the frame resulting in unwanted discolorations of the fabric. It is, therefore, necessary to frequently strip, sand, and refinish the wood anchoring members to prevent transfer from the old dyes.
A further disadvantage of prior art frames which clamp the fabric is that the fabric covered by the clamping members can not be seen by the artist. This results in the artist having to apply excess dye along the frame edge in order to guarantee that the clamped material will be dyed. Often, the excess dye colors the edge darker than the artist desires.
Finally, the artist frequently desires to paint prehemmed fabric since the cost of purchasing hemmed fabric is much less than the cost of hemming the fabric after painting. However, the damage done to the fabric edge by prior art devices often requires removal of the prehemmed edge and rehemming of the fabric.